Florence, The Ufizzi Gallery

Tattoos acquired, we had our “one thing each” to tick off; each of us picks one thing we will feel regret if we don’t see it.

Mine is usually a walking tour, Mr.8 likes aquariums and zoos, Alice loves art and culture, and Ms.11 likes water slides.

But first, we rode bicycles! This is not particulary amazing until you know that its been 10 years since Alice or I owned a bicycle (we kept our couch instead when we moved to NZ!). It was glorious and we all had so much fun.

Here’s us on one of our many breaks, we rode up and down the Arno, just north of the Centro Historico. It’s about a 30 minute train + walk to get there from Centro Historico.

We rented bikes for 2 hours in Florence

Some more cool street art in our neighborhood:

Some more cool street art in Florence

And now the pics you’ve all been waiting for, the Uffizi! It’s a ten minute walk for us (we’re just down the street) and can I just say I love not having to drive anywere; on this trip I’ve driven a grand total of maybe 4-5 times, mostly for our time in Scotland and Belgium and road trips in Spain and Malta (more on Malta in later blog posts!).

The Uffizi is a record of the explosion of art that was the Renaissance. To understand the Renaissance you have to understand that this freedom of artistic expression was unheard of in previous ages.

Uffizi art

We turned the corner and Boticelli’s Venus was waiting for us. What a treat to have it be so close, with so few people. I imagine in the summer this room would be filled to bursting with sweaty people.

Uffizi, we finally come to Boticelli’s Venus

Looking at it straight on, as wuth most art, it’s so much more impressive than any photo can ever provide. Like when we saw the Rothko art exhibit in Daugavpils, Latvia, we were overcome with emotion. The drama, and colours, look like they were invoked yesterday rather than 500 years ago:

Uffizi, we finally come to Boticelli’s Venus, in its full glory

In our way, we notice small things about art. Here we took a closer look at the toes, and they leave a bit to be desired, unless this was the true state of feet in the Renaissance:

They were still working out how to paint toes properly in the RenaissanceUffizi, even the backs of paintings are interesting, this is a practice before the real thing, only black and whiteThe ceiling of the Uffizi has artwork too

We took a break on the 2nd floor to have a look out at the Ponte Vecchio, which is just minutes from our apartment, and marvel at all the beauty, history, and culture that’s all around us:

We took a quick break to look out the window at the Uffizi so we could see the Ponte Vecchio

I have always loved Socrates, it was amazing to finally see him in statue form, what a great mind/thinker!

I love Socrates, and here he is

The Renaissance was a revival of Roman (and hence Greek) art and architecture. Here you can see Greek themes carved so effortlessly into stone:

I’m always amazed by bas reliefs with this much detail

Don’t forget to look up in every room in the Uffizi or you’ll miss ceilings like this:

A stellar ceiling in the Uffizi

The Medici’s used to hang out in this castle, the Palazzo Vecchio and with good reason, it was rare for them not to be in someone’s political crosshairs.

The view of the Palazzo Vecchio from the balcony/cafe at the Uffizi

The human body was celebrated, here we see it in its logical exaggeration in the form of Heracules, the strongest man ever (so the story says):

Hercules, Hercules, Hercules!

I respect any creator who has so much work he can’t be ignored, da Vinci is one I highly admire. Amazing even his rough sketches are worthy of anyone’s wall:

da Vinci’s sketches are works of art

One more look from the Uffizi at the Ponte Vecchio, a little bit later in the afternoon:

Another view of the Ponte Vecchio from the middle floor of Uffizi

To me, Medusa is a famous work of art and so I was surprised to see it languishing on its own in a hallway filled with construction barriers. I’m struck by how Medusa is shocked, angry, horrified, all the things you might feel if you got your head chopped off by Perseus:

Medusa by Caravaggio is a sight to behold, in a strange place surrounded by construction

A respectful Medusa selfie ensues:

Medusa selfie!

Our neighborhood in Centro Storico has so much great art, the graffiti teaches you something, and the art is worthy of a museum in and of itself:

On the walk home from Uffizi we usually walk past this street art bas relief; exquisite!